Conventional ultrasonic traveling wave motors have been aimed at high-tech applications, where the special features of these motors (e.g. direct drive through high torque at low speed, size-independent efficiency, high power to weight ratio, quiet drive, etc.) have been given higher priority than low production costs. Common designs of the stator in traveling wave motors consist of a single piezoelectric ceramic element attached to a metallic carrier, where the ceramic element is machined to the same shape as the stator, e.g. annular shaped rotating motors. This leads to high production and material costs.